In game two, the NZ Men’s Open team squared up the series in a tense affair that went down to the wire. A deadlock in the last minute was broken by NZ’s Michael Cavanagh, who held on in the frenetic final moments to set up a thrilling finish to game two. The third and final test went to a drop-off that the Aussies won 5-4, to win the series. Again, in the Mixed Opens, the Australian team took two wins in the best-of-three series. In the first of the three tests, it took six minutes for the Touch Blacks to open the scoring, with Nat Turner diving over after applying sustained pressure on the Aussie line. The Australians immediately hit back with stalwart Michael Singh finding Ron Hanson Medallist Elin Mortimer with a precision long ball for her to fittingly score the opening touchdown for the visiting team. While the first points took some time to come for both teams, the game quickly opened up from there and the first half ended with a 4-all score line. The second half started just as the first did, with NZ opening the scoring and resuming their position in front. At three minutes remaining, the score was 7-all, butthistime,theAussieswouldn’t allow the Kiwis to get the lead back. With just 60 seconds left, the visitors hit the lead for the first time in the match, through Dylan Thompson. The Aussies held on in the dying stages for an impressive come-from-behind 8-7 victory. Though in the second test, the Kiwis levelled things out, keeping the series alive, with a 9-6 victory. The host nation handled the cold and wet conditions far better than the Aussies. Australia came back in the third and final test – despite the rain coming down in buckets. It was 3-all heading into the break, but the visitors found their stride in the second half, with a 7-4 win to retain their Trans-Tasman title. Although the weather was bleak, the touch footy – as well as the discipline, mutual respect, immense skill and pride – displayed by all players from both nations over the three-day tournament was outstanding. While Australia is in a strong position heading into the 2019 World Cup, New Zealand demonstrated at the at the OTT 2018 that Australia can by no means rest on their laurels if they want to maintain World Champion status. TRANS-TASMAN Keeping In Touch 2018 | 7